Victor Bovarotti Lopes

Victor started his practice at Demarest in 2003 still as an intern working with indirect taxation matters. Given the close relationship among indirect taxation and customs matters in Brazil, Victor quickly started working also with customs matters and ended up specializing on that. Today he conducts most of the customs work of the firm. During the more than 15 years of experience, Victor has represented clients in relevant cases involving matters such as customs valuation, tariff classification, licensing requirements, interpretation of trade preference agreements, special customs regimes (Repetro, Recap, Retaero, Retid, drawback, temporary admission etc.) and tax planning on importations and exportations of good and services. More recently, after obtaining his LL.M. from Georgetown University in 2013 and working at Steptoe & Johnson LLP, Victor also has been involved on behalf of the Brazilian industry in three CVD investigations carried out by the U.S.A. against Brazilian exports of hot-rolled steel products, cold-rolled steel products and silicon metal and in one CVD investigation carried out by Brazil against Chinese exports of hot-rolled steel products. Finally, Victor has also been involved in the support of the Brazilian Government in the WTO disputes DS472, DS497 and DS514. Praised for his customs and tax practice within the international trade sector in Chambers Latin America 2018, ranked as Foreign Expert for USA in Chambers Global 2017, quoted as having “strong expertise” by The Legal 500 and nominated in the Trade & Customs area by Who’s Who Legal.